RC&D Helps Local Firefighters in Tennessee

firefighter unpacks new protective gear made possible through Clinch-Powell RC&D-assisted grants

Thanks to the NRCS and the Clinch-Powell Resource Conservation & Development (RC&D) Council, fire departments and other emergency services in the five-county Clinch-Powell, Tennessee, area now have better safety gear and fire fighting equipment. During a ten-year strategic planning process to establish an enterprise community (EC), many in the five-county area expressed a need for improved emergency services. The Clinch-Powell RC&D/EC responded by working with local volunteer fire departments to find out what equipment and capabilities they needed. The next step was to help them write and administer grants and then to train the fire departments on how to write and administer grants themselves.

firefighters aboard new fire truck made possible through Clinch-Powell RC&D-assisted grants

“The RC&D and EC have worked together to win over $3.5 million in grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), USDA Rural Development, Enterprise Community, Tennessee Division of Forestry, and other local contributors to help volunteer fire departments,” said Lindy Turner, Clinch-Powell RC&D Coordinator. Numbers of firefighters for the volunteer fire departments are up as well. This has resulted in better morale as evidenced by a recent letter to the Clinch-Powell RC&D from a local volunteer firefighter, “I watched the first team go in (to the burning house) and got to thinking. They are wearing turnout gear and air packs from EC grants, holding a flashlight from a

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Tennessee Division of Forestry grant, working a hose line, nozzle, water tank, and pump from a FEMA grant on a flatbed truck from a Rural Development grant. All purchased in the last three years thanks to the work of the RC&D and EC. You can’t imagine how much you have helped!”
Your contacts are Lindy Turner, NRCS Clinch-Powell RC&D coordinator and Candy Barbee, program assistant, at 865-828-5927, or cprcd@clinchpowell.